ARFH Advocates for State Governors to Fund Tuberculosis Programmes

The Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) has called for Nigerian governors to provide counterpart funding for tuberculosis test and treatment programmes in their states.

The President/CEO of ARFH, Professor Oladapo Ladipo said that funding from states is a condition precedent for the Global Fund grants to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) to continue supporting the fight against TB in Nigeria.

He said this at the November 2017 principal recipient/sub recipient review meeting of the Global Fund TB grant in Nigeria organized by ARFH and the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria (IHVN).

He asserted that funding such as transport support for mothers to take their children to health facilities for TB x-ray tests are supposed to be provided by government, as the GF is not meant to provide everything with regards to test and treatment of TB.

He stated that: “unlike the other donors that give you all that you need, Global Fund is a gap filling mechanism”.

Professor Ladipo therefore appealed to partners in the fight against TB in Nigeria such as the National Tuberculosis, Buruli-ulcer and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), World Health Organisation (WHO), ARFH, IHVN, and sub recipients of the Global Fund grant to lead the advocacy.

“Let us arrange high-level advocacy visits to our state governors and people of influence in the states, to leverage additional money for TB programmes in their respective states”, he said.

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About ARFH

Association for Reproductive & Family Health (ARFH) is a non-profit in Nigeria committed to improving the quality of life of underserved and vulnerable communities by promoting access to quality healthcare and harnessing community capacities for sustainable development.